"Church Bells" | ||||
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Single by Carrie Underwood | ||||
from the album Storyteller | ||||
Released | April 11, 2016 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Recorded | 2015 | |||
Genre | Country pop | |||
Length | 3:13 | |||
Label | Arista Nashville | |||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Mark Bright | |||
Carrie Underwood singles chronology | ||||
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"Church Bells" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Carrie Underwood from her fifth studio album, Storyteller. The song was written by Zach Crowell, Brett James, and Hillary Lindsey, with production from Mark Bright, and was released as the third single from the album in the United States, being shipped to radio on April 3, 2016, and had an official impact date of April 11, 2016.
"Church Bells" topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart, becoming Underwood's 15th leader on that chart and thereby extending her record as the female artist with most number-ones in history of that chart. It is her second number one from Storyteller on the Country Airplay chart. Underwood became the first woman in 2016 to have two number-ones on the chart. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 3, 2016.
The song was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards.
"Church Bells" is a country pop song that tells the story of a young woman who marries a rich gentleman, but afterwards finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage, which she ends by poisoning his drink (in a manner that the cause of his death would be a mystery and that law enforcement would not trace to her).
Underwood said of the song, "It's...like Fancy's little sister", referencing Bobbie Gentry's hit song "Fancy", made famous by Reba McEntire. “She’s young, she’s pretty, she’s poor, doing what she can to survive,” Underwood explains, describing her “Church Bells” heroine. “(She) meets a man that has a lot of wealth and is supposed to take care of her.”
The song received generally positive reviews. In their review of the album, Billboard said of the song, "The first half holds a pair of Southern-gothic blockbusters that are the closest she has come to channeling McEntire’s down-home storytelling: “Choctaw County Affair,” a tale of lovers silencing their would-be blackmailer, and “Church Bells,” a rags-to-riches murder ballad in which a woman quietly offs her abusive husband."Rolling Stone called it "the most epic domestic-violence-revenge-murder ballad in years" and that it "split the difference between Martina McBride's "Independence Day" and the Dixie Chicks "Goodbye Earl", but without the latter's safety-valve of humor."